The American Railway Union (A.R.U.) was founded on June 20, 1893, in Chicago, Illinois. Led by Eugene V. ... After a boycott against the Pullman Company led to a strike against the railroads, the federal government broke the strike and jailed Eugene Debs after which point the A.R.U. quickly fell apart.
The only compromise that could have headed off war by then was for the Southern states to forgo secession and agree to abolition. Once the Confederate states seceded and troops fired on Fort Sumter, the only solution possible was complete Southern surrender.
